The nothingness of hypernormalisation

Lara KEBBI, Terminale

Your phone flashes brightly. A new image was forwarded to your Family Whatsapp group. Before you even press the download button, you know it’s one of those daily Lebanese jokes. You want to read it and laugh. But little do you know you’re taking part in the other pandemic: Hypernormalisation.

In recent years, our lives as Lebanese citizens have revolved around the analysis of two main concepts: the political and financial crisis, led by no other than the current warlords. This situation puts individuals in a permanent state of anxiety. It throws you into a rollercoaster of emotions, haunts your overthinking skills, makes you question what exactly you are worried about now… then almost brings you back to square one: the numb stage. Just like the psychological cycle when watching a horror movie.

But to the people perceiving the situation as an opportunity for comedy and creating these jokes I receive, I would like to address you: What is it about this tragedy that is so funny? And what is it about this crisis that has moved such an output of humor?

I’m not talking about the laughter that binds us together against a common enemy or that laughter in the form of collective therapy, but about the laughter that makes you give up on the complexities of our current situation and twist the official narrative.

You’re joking about how boring it is to wait in line to fuel your car when a taxi driver whose financial life depends on that died while waiting.

You’re joking about power outages while some of your people are on oxygen machines, in intensive care units fighting for their lives with almost no support at all.

You’re joking about not finding meds while parents are going hysterical for not being able to cure their children of their most common diseases.

You’re joking about the dollar shortage while low-income families cannot afford the inherent needs for them or their newborn babies.

You’re joking about what the banks have turned to while forgetting our huge creditworthiness for years and years.

You’re joking about new school lifestyles, new adaptations when Lebanon used to shine among the top-ranked countries on the educational scale.

You’re joking about how we’re living in a remake of the 18th century when the world is on the run for the latest developments, and we’re slowly being disconnected from everything that concerns us.

Today, corruption is at the top, and you’re trending these wartime crimes. You’re nurturing these misplaced powers. You’re extending these unworthy times on the undeserved seats, constantly leading us to free-falling tragedies and “30 years of lost wealth,” as the writer Sara El-Yafi sums it up.

We all genuinely need humor that helps us take back control and connect. Still, we also believe it is time to pity the nation when useless facebook jokes are more trending than awareness articles and alerting posts. That type of humor isn’t just a way of coping anymore. It is about knowing the importance of mocking those with power and celebrating it.

Wake up, your system is blinking red.